We regret to announce that the 2026 Open Art Exhibition will not be going ahead as planned.
This decision has been made after careful consideration of a number of factors, including limited availability of committee members during key stages of the exhibition process, uncertainty around how fully operational the museum may be during the exhibition period, and concerns that these issues could affect both visitor numbers and participation.
Given the relatively short timeframe remaining before the originally planned event, we do not feel we could promote and deliver the exhibition to the standard it deserves.
We appreciate the continued support and understanding of our artists, visitors and supporters, and we hope to return with future exhibition plans in due course.
Rutland Open Art Exhibition 2025
At Rutland County Museum from Saturday 12th July – Saturday 9th August 2025.
Rutland Open Art Exhibition 2024
The 2024 Open Art Exhibition was displayed at Rutland County Museum from Saturday 11th May – Saturday 8th June 2024.
The preview evening was held at Rutland County Museum on Friday May 10th 2024. The exhibition had attracted over 85 entries and as the standard was so high all the work was accepted for display. The entries were judged by an independent panel of experts and the winning entries, presented by Rutland’s Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff, were:
Philip Dawson – Paradies in blue, Barnsdale Wood
Sarah Hatherill – Sunrise bike ride
Sue Johnson – Getting in deep
Michael Moralee – Horizontal wave
Andrea Naylor – Night watch
Frank Rogers – Blue shadows
Sally Struszkowski – Rook on a bin lid from Dorset
Rutland Open Art Exhibition 2023
Arts for Rutland Open Exhibition and Preview evening was held at Rutland County Museum on Friday September 22nd 2023. The exhibition had attracted over 75 entries and as the standard was so high that all the work was accepted for display. The entries were judged by an independent panel of experts and the winning entries were:
1st Prize Philip Dawson – Reeds & Bullrushes, Rutland Water
2nd Prize Kevin Holdaway – Venice, View of Grand Canal from under Acadamia Bridge
3rd Prize Christine Davis – Field
4th Prize Connie Taylor – Orb of Happiness
Highly Commended
Lou Jones – Driving at Dusk
Mary Rodgers – Tree Poppy
Andrea Naylor – Soul Mates
Kerry Shearer – Oakham
Chloe Brown – The Florist’s Daisy
Sue Johnson – Cloudburst
Rutland Open Art Exhibition 2022 Prize Winners.
Arts For Rutland Open Exhibition and Preview evening was held at Rutland County Museum on Friday August 26th. The exhibition had attracted over 110 entries and as the standard was so high that all the work was accepted for display. The entries were judged by an independent panel of experts and the winning entries were.
Award winners
1st Prize Sheena Griffiths-Baker Red Kite on Colley Hill
2nd Prize Kevin Holdaway Launde Abbey, Leicestershire
3rd Prize Philip Dawson Early Autumn, New Forest
4th Prize Suzanne Harry The Gwash
Highly Commended
Timothy Ennis – Mouth puller
Jan Burridge – Statement Poppies
Connie Taylor – Orb of happiness
Michael Moralee – Observations on river
Sue Johnson – Hidden history
Keith Aldridge – American lodge
Annie Scudamore – Yacht off Brancaster
Andy Perkins – ‘Duncan’
Oliver Ferris On the approach to Burrough
The prizes were given to the artists by the Lord Lieutenant who as always supports the work that Art achieves within the community and thanked everyone for the hard work involved. It was also in the presence of the High Sheriff and many of the artists and their family and friends. The Event was hosted by Peter Davis and he was delighted with the amount of entries, the standard of their work and the overall look of the exhibition. The display was created by Mike Moralee and Hilary Salomon who took time and lots of effort to show all the pictures, sculpture, and ceramics off to perfection. The exhibition runs until October 1st and all the work is available to purchase. Arts for Rutland would like to thank Rutland County Museum for holding the event and all the help the staff give to getting the exhibition up and running and dealing with the work that is sold. It has been an exciting return to being able to hold a virtual Rutland Open this year.
Open Exhibition 2020
The Exhibition is now available to view here as the Museum is still closed due to the lockdown restrictions. To view this years entries click an image below and use the scroll buttons or use the slide show option
The Museum is now closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Art work is safely stored and information on collection to follow once the social distancing policy has relaxed. Please email if you require to pick up your art work before this.
The Rutland Open Exhibition 2020
Monday 9 March: Art Work in between 10.00 and 4.00pm
Tuesday 10 March: Judging
Wednesday 11 March – Friday 13 March: Return of art work not selected & Installation
Friday 13 March: Private View
Saturday 14 March – Monday 20 April: Advertised Display Dates (5 weeks)
Monday 20 April: Take Down & Art Work Collected this will be reviewed depending on government guidelines.
Application form and criteria can be downloaded below
Word – Rutland Open 2020 Application Form
pdf – Rutland Open 2020 Application form
Rutland Open Exhibition 2019 at Rutland County Museum
Prize winners
Three Arts Society trophy goes to Harry Hamill for Homeless Man
Coleman’s award, £50 voucher, goes to Gillian Durne for Burghley House
Art for Rutland awards:
4th prize £50 Alan Oliver – River Welland, Stamford
3rd prize £100 Jan Burridge – Figure
2nd prize £150 Stella Benford – Lake Dwellings
0verall winner £200 Mike Moralee – Mooring wine with pebbles
Highly commended:
Nigel Smith – River King
Jay Seabrook – Pursuit
Helen Lopez-Biggin – For the love of God
Ingrid Kleins-Daniels – Reflections, Three estate agents and haberdashery
Andrea Naylor – a cry from the wild
Liz King – Patience and grace
Richard Allen – Poppies at Oakham Castle
Hana Smid – Sea form
Fiona Kingdom – Sunflower
Saturday April 6th 2019 Art Work Collected
Download Application Form
Open exhibition application form (pdf)
Open exhibition application form (Word)
The Rutland Open Exhibition 2017
At the evening there were performances from Chater Choir, Emma Farmer and Rutland Saxophone Ensemble. All these had recieved grants from Arts for Rutland or support for their projects.
The winners were presented with their prizes by Craig Mitchell, High Sheriff of Rutland. The evening was well attended and enjoyed by the artists, performers and invited guests. The exhibition runs at Rutland County Museum until January 5th 2018. All the exhibits are for sale, but they can not be removed until after the exhibiton closes.
All photos of the Preview evening by James Palfrey ABIPP
The Prize Winners of the Art exhibited
Arts for Rutland Prize –
Jax receiving her prize
Rutland Three Arts Society –
Coleman’s Prize
Andrea with Craig at the presentation
Creative Leicestershire Prize
Highly Commended were Richard Allen, Jim Barnes, Stephan Horsfield, Jane Gill, Jo Sheppard and Mary Rodgers
Richard Allen being congratulated by the High Sheriff.
Please download flyer with link below
Rutland Open Exhibition 2016
The Rutland Open Exhibition 2016 was organised by a sub-group of Arts for Rutland, and took place between Saturday 12 March and Friday 22 April at Rutland County Museum, Catmose Street, Oakham, LE15 6HW.
At the Open Evening on Friday 11 March, as well as previewing an excellent selection of art, we were also privileged to hear performances from some of the holders of awards from our project fund.
Prize winners were as follows:
Arts for Rutland Prize
Stella Benford – Living in a Box (Mixed Media)
Swans Prize
Andrea Naylor – Old Man Blue (Pastel)
Goldmark Prize
Alan Oliver – Aldeburgh Beach (Oil)
Creative Leicestershire Prize
Jill Hailes – White Orchid (Acrylic)
Highly Commended
Jim Barnes – Arrow Head Bowl (Ash)
Jane Gill – Floral Column (Ink & Watercolour)
Anne Goold – View to Harringworth (Oil)
Jill Hailes – Salema, Portugal (Watercolour)
John Holloway – Two Dolphins in a Wave (Ancaster Stone)
Maggie Lewis – Ray (Digital Photography)
Terry Raybould – Ridlington Gardens (Oil)
Download the exhibitiion flyer as pdf
In addition to the established Open Exhibition, we have a Youth Exhibition which had its second run during February 2016.
